Thursday, July 14, 2011

Proof That Cowboys Are Kind of Morons

Apparently riding bulls whose nuts have been twisted to drive them into a frenzy of pain and rage is a stupid, fucking thing to do. According to a recent study, rodeo contestants are 20 times more likely to suffer a "catastrophic injury" than is a football player.

I'd humbly like to suggest that there is a relationship between stupidity and politics and that we can prove it in this way.

1) The Calgary Stampede is the biggest annual event in Alberta.

2) Alberta has had a Tory provincial government for longer than Gaddafi has been in power.

3) Alberta's vote for the federal Tories was at a level approaching that of a Stalinist dictatorship.

Here's the thing. I admire the hard and dangerous work of cowboys who work in the cattle industry - or did in the 19th century - just as I do miners, construction workers and waitresses. But, let's face it, those frontier hardscrabble days are largely gone, replaced by industrialization of the food industry (which has its own dangers that are far less romantic and far more toxic). Rodeos are just affectations for stupid, stupid men to put their lives at risk and needlessly hurt innocent animals. I mean, if they want to do it - go crazy. As Darwin might have put it: nature always finds a way...